Go on a Filipino food crawl by visiting these 12 spots throughout the Peninsula, with an emphasis on eateries that provide a signature offering or singular focus on a specific dish. From baked goods and modern takes on traditional desserts to comforting classic dishes, eateries throughout the region are contributing to the Filipino food scene in distinctive ways. Dig in below.

Bakeries

The Bread Basket Bakery, Daly City: Pandesal

Grab warm, fresh-baked pandesal from The Bread Basket Bakery for your next breakfast. A fixture along Top of the Hill, this family-owned business has been baking the golden brown bread rolls, which are crunchy on the outside with a soft interior, in its corner shop since 1977. Tracing its roots to the arrival of Spanish colonists who brought wheat flour to the Philippines, pandesal can be served in a variety of ways. Whether dipped in your morning coffee, layered with cheesy scrambled eggs or paired with a sweet spread, these rolls are perfect any time of day.

The Bread Basket Bakery, 7099 Mission St., Daly City; 650-994-7741. Instagram: @breadbasketdalycity. breadbasketdalycity.com.

Valerio’s Tropical Bakeshop, South San Francisco: Chicken empanadas

Located inside the Seafood City Supermarket in South San Francisco, Valerio’s Tropical Bakeshop sells an array of Filipino baked goods, appetizers and desserts. Their chicken empanadas are one of their most popular items. A Spanish-inspired dish, Valerio’s chicken empanadas feature a savory filling of shredded chicken and vegetables in a flaky crust. Valerio's has seven Bay Area locations, which include Daly City, Milpitas and Hayward, along with other locations in Southern California and around the United States.

Valerio's Tropical Bakeshop, 3535 Callan Blvd., South San Francisco; 650-878-1611. Instagram: @valeriostropicalbakeshop valeriostropicalbakeshop.com.

Starbread, Daly City and Pacifica: Señorita bread

For a sweeter baked confection, Starbread rolls out its signature señorita bread to communities throughout the Bay Area. Founded in 1988 in Vallejo, Starbread has Peninsula locations in Daly City and Pacifica. Señorita bread (known as Spanish bread in the Philippines), are oblong-shaped rolls slathered with butter, sugar and breadcrumbs. Customers order boxes of señorita bread by the dozen, which are served hot and fresh – an ideal snack to warm up with when the fog rolls in.

Starbread, 980 King Drive, Daly City; 650-878-9524. 1261 Linda Mar Shopping Center, Pacifica, 650-733-7750. Instagram: @starbread_bakery. starbreadca.com.

Desserts

House of Silvanas, Daly City: Silvanas cookies

Stop by House of Silvanas for a unique sandwich cookie that comes in several Filipino-inspired flavors. Silvanas are cashew meringue cookies filled with buttercream and served frozen to preserve their crunchy texture. The first House of Silvanas shop opened in 1995 in Manila before opening stateside a decade later. Silvanas are available in seven flavors including ube, buko-pandan and mango.

House of Silvanas, 2055 Gellert Blvd., Daly City, 650-878-8700. houseofsilvanas.com.

Binka Bites, Millbrae and South San Francisco: Bibingka

A popular Christmastime treat in the Philippines, bibingka is a rice cake made with a base of ground rice and water. Modern recipes also incorporate milk, butter and eggs for a more cake-like texture. Binka Bites, operated by siblings Jo Ongsiako and Jas Ongsiako, offer flavorful flourishes to traditional bibingka in a bite-sized format. Customers can choose from a dozen different varieties, including classic salted egg and cheese, mango cream, s’mores and ube macapuno.

Binka Bites, 304 Alida Way, South San Francisco, 650-787-9010; 979 Broadway #106, Millbrae; 650-296-8215. Instagram: @binkabites. binkabites.com.

Cafe 86, Mountain View: Ube-flavored drinks, baked goods and desserts

Cafe 86 is a rapidly expanding dessert chain with locations in Southern California, the Bay Area and Las Vegas. Go there for all things ube, be it baked goods, milk tea and lattes or traditional Filipino desserts like halo halo. Their first Peninsula location opened in Mountain View and has been whipping up treats like ube truffle bites, ube pop tarts and ube lattes from their cafe just off Castro Street on Villa Street.

Cafe 86, 738 Villa St., Mountain View; 650-448-3893. Instagram: @cafe_86. cafe-86.com.

Cake Queen & Coffee Bar, South San Francisco: Ube tres leches

Cake Queen & Coffee Bar is a woman-owned business in South San Francisco offering a triple threat of custom cakes and baked goods, savory pastries and beverages. One of the eatery's most popular items is its ube tres leches, incorporating Filipino ube with the Mexican dessert. The result is a sweet combination of cultures and flavors in a milky, deep purple-hued dessert that’s available by the slice or trayful.

Cake Queen & Coffee Bar, 132 Brentwood Drive, South San Francisco; 650-593-2253. Instagram: @bayareacakequeen.

Restaurants

Tapsilog Bistro, Campbell: Silog breakfast

Garlic fried rice, eggs and marinated Filipino beef tapa comprise the main elements of Tapsilog Bistro’s namesake dish, tapsilog. A hearty breakfast staple in the Philippines, Filipino eateries throughout the Bay Area offer this signature dish, which is often served with diced cucumbers or tomato on the side. At Tapsilog Bistro in Campbell, diners can choose from 20 varieties of silog breakfasts. Order a classic such as tapsilog (beef), longsilog (sweet pork sausage) and bangsilog (milkfish), or try one of the restaurant’s offerings with an American flair, including bacon silog or fried chicken silog.

Tapsilog Bistro, 819 W Hamilton Ave., Campbell; 408-412-8926. Instagram: @tapsilog_bistro_cantina.

Isla, San Bruno: Sulit bilao

Step inside Isla in San Bruno and you’ll see the space filled with large wooden tables throughout, perfect for gatherings with friends and loved ones. They also provide much needed surface area for Isla’s sulit bilao, shareable banana leaf meal platters to be enjoyed by hand. Grilled meats, seafood, lumpia egg rolls and sides of diced tomato and shrimp paste to accompany the entrees are just some of the items you’ll find in a sulit bilao. Isla offers four combinations of sulit bilao platters to choose from, and unlimited bucketfuls of rice are served alongside the platters to help diners polish off their meal.

Isla, 448 San Mateo Ave., San Bruno; 650-872-5008. Instagram: @islafilipinorestaurant. dinfo.me/myislarestaurant.com.

Fil Am Cuisine: Barbecue skewers

Filipino-style barbecue skewers are the main draw at Fil Am Cuisine in Daly City, which has been located along School Street since 2002. Filipino barbecue can be distinguished from the American style by their wet marinade often consisting of soy sauce, calamansi and banana ketchup, resulting in a tangy, sweet and savory sauce. Their signature grilled pork and chicken barbecue skewers can be purchased a la carte or with steamed rice for under $10 a plate.

Fil Am Cuisine, 66 School St., Daly City, 650-992-6191; 321 Grand Ave., South San Francisco, 650-871-5010. Instagram: @filambbq. filamcuisine.com.

Pamilya, Redwood City: Filipino comfort food bowls

Pamilya is currently a ghost kitchen operating out of Redwood City. Customers can choose from pickup or delivery for their fill of Filipino food, which Pamilya serves in a convenient bowl format for diners on the go. Their El Nido Shrimps bowl features island-inspired garlic shrimp alongside pickled veggies. For plant-based eaters, Pamilya has crafted the Gising Gising bowl, which includes sautéed green beans with Impossible meat simmered in coconut milk. Boneless chicken adobo and pork belly sisig bowls are also on offer for meat eaters.

Pamilya, 426 MacArthur Ave., Redwood City; 650-374-9332. Instagram: @pamilya_sf. pamilyakitchen.com.

Rene Rose Island Cuisine, Sunnyvale: Turo turo-style dining

A family-run business, owners Rene and Rose Nepomuceno, alongside their daughter Natalie, prepare platefuls of Filipino classics for the Sunnyvale community in their cozy eatery. Served in the “turo turo” format, meaning “point point” in Tagalog, diners will be greeted with a selection of entrees kept warm on a steam table. Rene Rose offers combination plates that come with rice and a cup of tamarind-based sinigang soup. Popular entrees include lechon kawali (crispy deep-fried pork belly), pork adobo and pinakbet (vegetable medley cooked with pork and shrimp paste).

Rene Rose Island Cuisine, 621 Caliente Drive, Sunnyvale, 408-733-3691.